The manufacture of various garments, especially men's slacks, involves the combining of various fabrics into the complicated structure of the waistband. As an example, FIG. 1 shows the pair of slacks at 20 with the waistband 21.
As seen in FIG. 2, the typical waistband construction 21 includes a multitude of layers. Two sewing steps serve to create the particular waistband 21 shown in FIG. 2.
The first sewing provides the lines of stitches 22. The stitches 22 attach the ribbing, or identifying strip, of satin 23 to the outer layer 24 generally composed of a biascut pocketing material. The lines of stitches 23 also secures to the outer layer 24 the backing 25 formed of a nonwoven fabric such as Polyastro.RTM. sold by QST Industries, Inc., of Chicago, Ill.
Lastly, the stitches 23 also attach the sewing tab 26 to the outer and backing layers 24 and 25, respectively. The sewing tab takes the form typically of a bias-cut canvas material which provides a blind tab to attach such items as belt loops. The resulting construction achieved by the first stitching 23 and composed primarily of the outer layer 24, the backing 25, and the sewing tab 26, in combination, bear the label of the waistband curtain.
The second sewing step occurs along the zigzag line of stitches 30 and completes the preparation of the waistband 21. In traveling from the inside of the waistband 21, as seen in FIG. 2 and as would appear in an actual pair of slacks, the stitches 30 attach first the shell fabric 31 and the sewing guide material 32 between the tops of the outer layer 24 and the backing layer 25. The shell fabric 31, of course, represents the actual visible material of the slacks 20.
The sewing guide material 32 includes the rows of slots 33 and 34 and facilitates the construction of the pants 20. The bottom row of slots 34 assist in folding the sewing guide material 32, and thus the shell fabric 31, over the material remaining on the top of the waistband. In particular, the row of slots 34 provides less resistance to the folding. Thus, the construction of the garment involves folding over the sewing guide material 32 and the shell fabric 31 at the row of lower row slots 34 to establish the top of the garment at the desired location.
The upper row of slots 33 provides a line of less resistance for the folding under of the edge of the sewing guide material 32 and thus the shell fabric 31. Again, the slots 33 establish a straight line for the bottom edge necessary to produce the waistband 21 as seen in FIG. 20. A good example of the sewing guide material bears the trademark of "Edge Control".RTM. from QST Industries, Inc.
Finally, the zigzag stitching 31 attaches the important strip of interlining material 36 on the outside of the waistband construction 21. The strip 36 bears the very important function of preventing, totally or at least largely, the rolling over of the top of the waistband 21 as the person wearing the garment 20 goes through his normal motions of bending over, sitting, and the like. The interlining 36 may take various forms. The material 36 shown in FIG. 3 results from weaving warp and fill yarns together where the latter displays a substantial resistance to bending or folding. A prime example of this type of rollresistance strip appears under the mark of "BAN-ROL".RTM., sold by QST Industries, Inc., and has found industry-wide acceptance.
As seen in FIG. 1, however, the interlining strips 36 need not extend the entire length of the waistband 21. The back 37 of the garment often has little need for this material.
Thus the second sewing step, which results in the of stitching 30, combines the four layers of the shell fabric 31, the sewing control material 32, the rollover-resisting interlining 36, and the curtain. The latter includes the outer layer 24, the backing material 25, the sewing tab 26 and, optionally, the ribbing 23 held together by the stitching 22.
In particular, the stitching 30 requires the insertion and cutting of the interlining 36 at the desired locations. Obviously, the manual cutting and insertion of the interlining 36 at the desired locations as seen in FIG. 2 would require the expenditure of substantial time and effort. This, concomitantly, would increase the cost of the final garment to the purchaser. Accordingly, various developments have attempted to simplify and expedite this step in the construction of the waistband.
One example of a mechanism for bringing together the materials used in the final stitching 30 appears in U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,081, to S. E. Miller. That patent shows a device for feeding two strips of material into the sewing area of a machine from rolls suspended overhead. It thus requires the utilization of extensive, curved guides to bring the material into the sewing vicinity for attachment to the waistband. The device also employs air cylinders with pivoting, sharpened feeddogs to move the material through the curved guides. The feeddogs, when the cylinder moves towards the sewing area, engage the strip of material in question to move it in the appropriate direction. When the piston moves in the opposite direction, the feeddogs pivot in a manner to cause them to slide backward over the material to prevent them from dragging it away from the sewing needle.
Miller's device constitutes a rather significant improvement for feeding strips of material to the sewing needle. However, the curved path traveled by the strips of material to the sewing area resulted in the sections of material having imprecise locations in the waistbands themselves. Furthermore, the holder of the feeddogs, attached at the ends of the pistons, could easily fall out of alignment and thus not perform their jobs properly. Additionally, the overhead location required of this mechanism tended to obscure the operational and viewing area of the seamstress, thus interferring with her work.
A subsequent device attempted to feed various strips of material to the sewing area along a straight line from directly in front of the machine. Air cylinders caused feeddogs located in front of and under the sewing area to pass through arcs. During the motion through this arc, the feeddogs would engage the interlining for a waistband and feed it to the sewing area. A knife forming part of the mechanism would move to cut off the strip of interlining when directed by the operator.
In effect, the device converted the linear motion of an air cylinder into the circular motion of the feeddogs. This in turn created substantial impreciseness in the exact location of the beginnings and the ends of the strips of interlining fed into the waistband. The device, accordingly, although a substantial improvement over the mechanisms it replaced, still proved imperfect.
Thus, various devices developed in the past have reduced the time and cost of creating a waistband for a garment. Yet, the search continues for a device that will accomplish these results while providing precision to the placement of the portions of interlining included within a waistband.